Red Poppy Festival on the Square April 23 – 25

It all starts this Friday night with the red-hot kickoff concert for the 11th annual Red Poppy Festival on the Georgetown Square. Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes (pictured below) serve up their own style of fun starting at 8:30 on Friday night. Jul and the Chrome Wheels lead off the Friday night concert at 6:30 p.m.

The headliner for this year’s festival, Little Texas (at left) performs at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. Known for their no. 1 country hits What Might Have Been, God Blessed Texas, and My Love, Little Texas has won CMT awards, a Billboard award, and a Radio & Records award. Returning for their second appearance at the Red Poppy Festival, Two Tons of Steel starts the Saturday night concert at 7:30 p.m. with their rambunctious brand of country-rooted rock.

Other music groups on Saturday and Sunday include Emmy award-winning PBS favorites the Biscuit Brothers, country artist Kori Jean Olsen, Georgetown High School Jazz bands, Georgetown Fire Department Pipes and Drums Band, and the Southwestern University Jazz Band. For a full schedule of events, go to RedPoppyFestival.com. There is no admission charge for any of the festival concerts.

Around the Square you’ll find the Safe Place Kids Village, more than 150 booths and shops with fine handmade arts and crafts, and many choices for food and drinks.

Red Poppy Parade: Saturday starting at 10 a.m. along Austin Avenue on the Square. A map showing the parade route is available at RedPoppyFestival.com.

Car Show: Classic cars, Corvettes, and hot rods on the Square on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. See the link at RedPoppyFestival.com.

Red Poppy Ride: This charity bicycle ride begins Saturday at 8 a.m. See the link at RedPoppyFestival.com for details. The ride includes 14-mile, 30-mile, 45-mile, 62-mile, and 100-mile routes. It starts and ends at the Georgetown High School Annex located at 2295 N. Austin Avenue.

Red Poppy 5K Run: The 5K run/walk and a kids 1K run/walk starts on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. See the link at RedPoppyFestival.com for details.

The official 2010 Red Poppy Festival poster is on sale for $5 at the Visitor Information Center at 101 W. Seventh Street. Red Poppy Festival T-shirts in a variety of styles and designs also are on sale for $10 and $15.

Free Shuttle on Saturday

A free shuttle will run on Saturday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to midnight. The shuttle will pick up and drop off passengers at the Albertsons parking lot on N. Austin Avenue and at the festival perimeter at N. Austin Avenue and Sixth Street. The shuttle will run continuously on Saturday. (Enter the Albertsons parking lot from N. Austin Avenue via Morrow Street or from the northbound I-35 frontage road just south of Williams Drive.)

Event Parking

Free parking will be available all weekend in the multi-story Williamson County parking garage located at Third and Rock streets. The parking lot at Fifth Street and Austin Avenue and the lot at 10th and Main streets both will be available after 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and all day Sunday. There is no charge for parking.

The City parking lot at Sixth and Main streets will be closed starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 23.

Street Closures

Streets around the downtown Square will begin closing at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 23 to allow for vendor and stage setup. Eighth Street on the Square will close at 6:30 a.m. on Friday to allow for assembly of the main stage.

Austin Avenue will be closed on Saturday in the downtown area. Traffic will be detoured to Martin Luther King, Jr. Street. From 7 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Austin Avenue will be closed from Fourth Street to University Avenue. From 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, Austin Avenue will be closed from Sixth Street to Ninth Street.

Church Street will be closed on Saturday for the parade from 10 a.m. to noon between Third and 11th streets.

For complete festival details, including a schedule of events, go to RedPoppyFestival.com.